Printing control device for a typewriter

ABSTRACT

In a printing control device provided with a printing element having a plurality of characters thereon and operable to selectively present any desired character to a printing position, two-position control elements are connected to the printing element to control the amount of displacement required for one of the characters to be selected. Transmission elements are provided to cause the control elements to predetermine or prepare one of the two positions thereof, respectively. The control elements, caused to predetermine or prepare a particular position by the transmission elements, are driven toward the particular position by a drive means. At least one bias means is provided for biasing the transmission elements so as to predetermine or prepare a first position. The biasing force of the bias means is limited by a plurality of limit means to hold the transmission elements so as to predetermine or prepare a second position. The limit imparted to the bias means by the limit means is released selectively by electromagnetic solenoids to selectively bias the transmission elements so as to predetermine or prepare the first position. The transmission element so selectively biased is caused by at least one restore means to return to the position for predeterming or preparing the second position with the aid of the drive from the drive means and against the biasing force of the bias means.

Unite States aent [191 Kunishima Nov. 25, 1975 [75] Inventor: ToshiakiKunishima, Yokohama,

Japan [73] Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo,

Japan 22 Filed: Feb. 19, 1974 211 Appl. No.: 443,221

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 27, 1973 Japan 48-23591 [52] U.S. Cl 197/18; 197/16 [51] Int. Cl. B41J 23/04 [58] Field of Search l97/16,l8,19, 52,55

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,919,002 12/1959 Palmer 197/16 3,391,774 7/1963 Greer 197/16 X 3,414,103 12/1968 Knudsen et al. 197/16 X 3,452,851 7/1969 Holmes r 197/19 3,643,773 2/1972 Holmes.... 197/16 3,647,042 3/1972 Smith 197/16 X 3,724,630 4/1973 Manson 197/16 X [57] ABSTRACT In a printing control device provided with a printing element having a plurality of characters thereon and operable to selectively present any desired character to a printing position, twoposition control elements are connected to the printing element to control the amount of displacement required for one of the characters to be selected. Transmission elements are provided to cause the control elements to predetermine or prepare one of the two positions thereof, respectively. The control elements, caused to predetermine or prepare a particular position by the transmission elements, are driven toward the particular position by a drive means. At least one bias means is provided for biasing the transmission elements so as to predetermine or prepare a first position. The biasing force of the bias means is limited by a plurality of limit means to hold the transmission elements so as to predetermine or prepare a second position. The limit imparted to the bias means by the limit means is released selectively by electromagnetic solenoids to selectively bias the transmission elements so as to predetermine or prepare the first position. The transmission element so selectively biased is caused by at least one restore means to return to the position for predeterming or preparing the second position with the aid of the drive from the drive means and against the biasing force of the bias means.

10 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures US. Patent N0v. 25, 1975 Sheet1of4 3,921,782

I I I I I 'IIIIIIIIJIJIIIIIA U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 2 of4 3,921,782

37SP|RAL 60 SPRING US. Patent N0v.25, 1975 Sheet30f4 3,921,782

f I d l23e [23 US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 4 of4 3,921,782

PRINTING CONTROL DEVICE FOR A TYPEWRITER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION writer having a group of binary mechanical input latches corresponding to a whiffletree character selecting element, and more particluarly to a printing control device in such typewriter which provides an interconnection between the group of binary mechanical input latches and a group of electromagnets operable by electrical input.

2. Description of the Prior Art Numerous mechanisms have heretofore been devised for interconnecting electromagnets with typewriters for remote control, but the interconnecting mechanisms of this type must fulfill the requirements for cost, speed and reliability of serviceability and long-term stability.

There have been proposed various printing control devices which are designed to enable electric typewriters to effect character selection by electrical signals, and the most popular of them has been a printing control device using electromagnets for power rather than speed. However, the use of electromagnets for power requires the electromagnets to be of large driving capacity and accordingly large size, and in addition, the drive control means for the electromagnets must be of great current capacity. Further, a special design is necessary for the application of the electromagnets in the typewriters and a number of treatments and cost are involved in installing the electromagnets in ordinary office typewriters. Those numerous electromagnetomechanical interposers heretofore proposed could hardly be incorporated in the ordinary office typewriters without special treatments or design change imparted to these typewriters, and te cost incurred therefor would prevent at least the economical application of the electromagneto-mechanical interface mechanism. Also, the electromagnetic mechanism used for power would often suffer from the problem of reliability and is so slow in response that difficulties are encountered in its application as the output printing control device of an electronic computer or the like.

A solution to these problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,774 issued July 9, 1968, which shows an interconnection between a group of binary mechanical input latches corresponding to a whiffletree" character selecting element disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,002 and a group of electromagnets designed for speed rather than power. The arrangement shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,774 employs the electromagnets only as an information source and does not require a power output of any significance therefrom but the power for the printing control is positively taken from a cam drive.

In the electromechanical interface for a typewriter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,774, however, the electromagnets are still used to directly drive the interposer links and in this sense, the electromagnets do not completely depart from its character only as an inforchange being imparted to the typewriters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a printing control device which provides a novel electromagneto-mechanical interface connecting the electromagnets used also positively as an information source with a typewriter.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing control device which is highly excellent in reliability and durability.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a printing control device which may be removably added to a standard office typewriter without the typewriter being disassembled and reassembled or oth-' erwise treated but only with some slight treatment imparted to the typewriter.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a printing control device which is simply constructed and sufficiently compact to fit within the normal covers of a standard office electric typewriter.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing control device which may be added to a standard office typewriter without preventing its use as such typewriter.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the appended claims. Other numerous advantages of the present invention which do not appear in this disclosure will occur to those skilled in the art when the invention is put into practice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a standard office electric typewriter.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the printing element in the typewriter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 ilustrates a tilting and rotational drive trans mitting mechanism connected to the printing element in the typewriter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a whiffletree selection mechanism.

FIG. 5 illustrates a transmission mechanism opera tively associated with the whiffletreeselection mechanism to impart rotational movement to the printing element.

FIG. 6 is a transmission mechanism operatively associated with the whiffletree" selection mechanism to impart tilting movement to the printing element.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the interface in the typewriter of FIG. 1 and associated mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the clutch mechanism in the typewriter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 shows, in a side elevation, the electromagnetic interface and clutch mechanism according to the present invention and associated mechanisms.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing portions of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a typewriter l which is basically identical in construction with that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,002. The typewriter l is a standard office typewriter and featurized by a printing element 3 having a plurality of type characters 2 arranged on the surface thereof. Printing is accomplished 3 by operating any one of keys 4 to rotate and tilt the printing element 3 to thereby make a corresponding type character 2 face the printing position 6 on a platen 5, and thereafter impacting the printing element against the platen.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a plan view and a front elevation, respectively, of the printing element 3. As shown there, the printing element 3 has 88 type characters arranged thereon in 22 rows and four columns. These 88 characters include numbers to 9, alphabetic captial and small letters and special symbols and if required, the printing element may further have thereon other characters such as Japanese syllabary or the like. With regard to the alphabetic letters, as is shown in FIG. 2, the small letters are arranged in a first I and a second quadrant II while the capital letters are arranged in a third III and a fourth quadrant IV, in such a manner that each capital letter and corresponding small letter are located at the diametrically opposite points on the printing element 3. Each character may be selected by rotating the printing element clockwise or counterclockwise by a predetermined unit of amount (0 to 5 units) from a reference position, for example, the position of the character e designated at 7 in FIG. 2, and if required, by tilting the printing element by a predetermined unit of amount (0 to 3 units). After printing has been effected by the selected character, that character may be returned to its initial or reference position.

FIG. 4 shows the whiffletree character selection mechanism as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,919,002, which is operable to impart a predetermined amount of rotation and a predetermined amount of tilting movement to the printing element 3 in accordance with the information applied in the form of 6-bit parallel codes.

FIGS. 3 to 7 illustrate a mechanism for transmitting the predetermined amount of rotation and the predetermined amount of tilting movement to the printing head.

The printing element 3 is supported by a support tube 8 having a hollow rotary shaft 9 and a rotary shaft 10 both rotatably mounted therewithin, as is shown in FIG. 3, and may be tilted upon rotation of the hollow rotary shaft 9 and rotated upon rotation of the rotary shaft 10.

More specifically, the hollow rotary shaft 9, when rotated, is operative to tilt the printing element 3 through the action of a tilting mechanism such as bevel gear connected to the end of the shaft 9, and the rotary 10, when rotated, is operative to rotate the printing ele ment 3 through the action of a rotating mechanism such as universal joint connected to the shaft 10.

The rotary shaft 10 is journalled to a pulley 13 over which is securely entrained a belt 11, and the hollow rotary shaft 9 is journalled to a pulley 14 over which is securely entrained a belt 12. A spiral spring 15 is secured at its inner end to the pulley l3 and at the other end to a common member (not shown) with a member for holding the support tube 8. A spring 16 is secured at one end to the pulley l4 and at the other end to the said common member. The spiral spring 15 normally imparts a tension to the belt 11, which tension provides part of the force with which the printing element returns to its reference position.

The mechanism for effecting rotation of the pulleys 13 and 14 and its operation will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.

It will be seen from the above description that the rotation of the pulleys 13 and 14 may be effected by imparting a tension to their associated belts 11 and 12. Since the belt 11 has one end thereof secured to the pulley l3 and the other end secured to a pin 17 provided on the body of the typewriter, a tension to be imparted to the belt 11 may be provided by pivoting at least one of levers 20 and 21 about a pivot point 23 and 24 to rotate the pulley 13 against the tension force of the spiral spring 15, the lever 20 having connected thereto a pulley 19 supporting the belt 11 and the lever 22 having connected thereto a pulley 21 also supporting the belt 11. On the other hand, since the belt 12 has one end secured to the pulley l4 and the other end secured to a pin 18 provided on the body of the typewriter, the pulley 14 may be rotated against the tension force of the spring 16a by a pulley 25 for supporting the belt 12 being rotatably supported on a support member 26 and by pivoting a lever 28 about a pivot 29, which lever 28 has connected thereto a pulley 27 also supporting the belt 12. The lever 22 acts as a shift lever for imparting rotation to the printing element 3 and may be driven by a suitable means when a capital letter or a small letter is selected for printing, but the lever 22 is not always essential in describing the construction of the present invention and need not be described further.

Rotational movement of the pulley 13 is transmitted through the shaft 10 and universal joint 30 to a socket 31, on which the printing element 3 is mounted, thereby rotating the socket 31. Rotational movement of the pulley 14 is transmitted to the hollow rotary shaft 9 and further to a sector gear 32, FIG. 7, from which the force is further transmitted through a bevel gear 33 meshing with the sector gear 32 to thereby tilt a socket bed 34 and accordingly the socket 31.

The amount of rotation and the amount of tilt of the socket 31 are determined by the extent of the tension imparted to the belts l1 and 12, i.e., the amount of rotation imparted to the levers 20 and 28.

FIG. 4 shows the whiffletree displacement mechanism. The amount of rotation of the lever 20 depends on the amount of rotation of a crank 37 pivotable about a stud 36 provided on the body of the typewriter, and the amount of rotation of the lever 28 depends on the amount of rotation of a crank 39 pivotable about a stud 38 provided on the body of the typewriter. The cranks 37 and 39 are rotated by latch levers 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e and 40f. Of these latch levers, those designated by 40a and 40b are in cooperative relationship with the crank 39 and those designated by 40c, 40d and 40f are in cooperative relationship with the crank 37. The latch levers are driven by a latch bail 51 which is designed to move in the direction of arrow 57 each time a character is printed. The latch levers 40 have end portions forming latches 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d and 41e engageable and disengageable with the latch bail 51, and they are selectively engageable and disengageable with the latch bail 51, as desired, so that only those of the latch levers corresponding to the latches selected for enagagement with the latch bail 51 are pulled and moved by the latch bail during its movement. At the other ends of the latch levers, there are disposed stops 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d and 422 provided on the body of the typewriter for limiting the movement of the latch levers in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow 57.

Description will now be made of the mechanism for causing rotation of the printing element 3. The latch levers 40c, 40d, 40e and 40f serve to cause rotation of the printing element 3 and among others, the latch lever Mlfserves to provide a condition for clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation from the reference position. The latch levers 40d and 40:: are pivotally connected to a link 56 through levers 52, 53, 54 and 55, and the latch lever 40c is pivotally connected to the link 56 through levers 54 and 55. By the selective engagement of the latches 41c, 41d. 41e with the latch bail 51, the latch lever corresponding to the selectively engaged latch is moved in the direction of arrow 57 while the latch levers corresponding to the unengaged latches are limited in movement by associated ones of the stops 42c, 42d, 42e, whereby there is produced an amount of movement to units and such movement is transmitted to the link 56 (pivot 58) and the further to the crank 37 (pivot 36), thus imparting a movement to the crank 37 in the direction of arrow 59. Such movement in turn is transmitted to a rod 61 connected to the crank 37 by means of a pin 60 provided on the end of the crank 37, and thence to the lever connected to the rod 61 by means of a pin 62. As a result, the lever 20 is rotated about its pivot 23 by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow 63. Since the lever 20 is normally biased in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow 63 by a spring 64 secured at one end to the lever 20 and at the other end to the body of the typewriter, the lever 20 is returned to its reference position by the spring 64 after having been rotated in the direction of arrow 63.

With the above-described construction and operation, a predetermined amount of rotation is imparted to the lever 20 and this causes a predetermined amount of rotation to the socket 31 and accordingly to the printing element 3 mounted on the socket 31.

Next, the mechanism for tilting the printing element 3 will be described. The latch levers 40a, 40b serve to cause tilt of the printing element. The latch levers 40a and 40b are pivotally connected to the crank 39 through levers 65 and 66. By the selective engagement of the latches 41a and 41b with the latch bail 51, the latch lever corresponding to the latch engaged with the bail 51 is moved in the direction of arrow 57 while the latch lever corresponding to the unengaged latch is limited in movement by an associated one of the stops 42a and 42b, whereby there is produced an amount of movement from 0 to 3 units and such movement is transmitted to the crank 39 (pivot 38) to impart a movement to the crank 39 in the direction of arrow 67. Such movement is also transmitted to the lever 28 through a shaft 68 secured to the crank 39 and an arm 69 rotatably mounted on the shaft 68. As a result, the lever 28 is rotated about its pivot 29 by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow 70.

Since the lever 28 is normally biased in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow 70 by a spring 71 secured at one end to the lever 28 and at the other end to the body of the typewriter, the lever 28 is returned to its reference position by the spring 71 after having been rotated in the direction of arrow 70.

With the above-described construction and operation, a predetermined amount of rotation is imparted to the lever 28 to tilt the socket 31 and accordingly the printing element 3 thereon by a predetermined amount.

Description has heretofore been made of the process wherein the latch levers 40a, 40b, 40c. 40d and 402 are selectively driven by the latch bail 51 so that the resultant amount of movement of the selected latch causes 6 the predetermined amount of rotation and the predetermined amount of tilt to the printing element 3.

Now, with reference to FIG. 8, description will be made of the means whereby the latch levers 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d and 402 are selectively driven.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation common to the respective latch levers 40a-40e. For illustration, the latch lever 40a is taken as an example.

Hereinafter, description will occur with a suffix a attached to the parts associated exclusively with the latch lever 40a but with no suffix attached to the parts common to the latch levers 40a-4012.

A bail shaft 72 is secured to the body of the typewriter, and a bail arm 73 carrying the latch bail 51 at the end thereof is rockably supported on the bail shaft 72. An elliptically shapted cam 77 is securely mounted on a cycle shaft 76 and designed to be rotated through 180 from its shown position during one-character printing operation of the typewriter. A roller 74 is rotatably supported on a shaft 78 provided on the bail arm 73 and'bears against the elliptically shaped cam 77. A rod a selectively movable in the direction of arrow 79 has one end 80a connected to the latch lever 40a and the other end 81a connected to any selection drive means such as, for example, an interposer 50a. To effect one-character printing, the elliptically shaped cam 77 is rotated through 180 while keeping a'rolling contact with the roller 74, to thereby urge the bail arm 73 in the direction of arrow 57. Thus, the latch bail 51 is also moved in the direction of arrow 57. In this instance, howevver, if the rod 75a is not moving in the direction of arrow 79, the latch bail 51 will engage the latch 41a to pull the latch lever 40a in the direction of arrow 57. In contrast, if the rod 75a is being moved in the direction of arrow 79 by the selection drive means such as interposer 50a, the latch lever 40a will be moved in the direction of arrow 79 by the rod 75a so as to disengage the latch 41a from the latch bail 51 so that the latch lever 40a will not be pulled in the direction of arrow 57 even if the bail arm 73 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow 57. After having been moved in the direction of arrow 79 by the rod 75a, the latch lever 40a may be returned to its initial position by a spring 82.

Thus, whether ornot the latch lever 40 is driven to move in the direction of arrow 57 depends on whether or not the rod 75a is being moved in the direction of arrow 79. The other latch levers 40b-75e, respectively. Thus, a selective drive for these rods selectively drives any desired one of the latch levers 40a-40e, thereby determining the amount of rotation of the amount of tilt for the printing element 3.

Note that the rods 75a-75e are connected by means of a common pin 49a to the interposer 50a which is designed to be selected and moved in the direction of arrow 79 by a key input when the typewriter is operated to perform printing in response to the key input.

Description will now be made of the driving mechanism for causing the 180 rotation of the elliptically shaped cam 77 from its shown position during each one-character printing. The elliptically shapted cam 77 is driven by a clutch mechanism which is designed to be engaged so as to permit the 180 rotation of the cam when a printing trigger is applied.

Such clutch mechanism is shown in FIG. 9. The cycle shaft 76 securely mounts thereon a latch wheel 84 and a restore cam 85 coaxially with the cam 77 and is cooperable with the wheel 84 and the cam 85. The cycle 7 shaft 76 is normally urged for counter-clockwise rotation by an unshown rotating means but the tendency toward such rotation is suppressed due to the rotation of the latch wheel being suppressed. A latch link 86 is biased in the direction of arrow 83 by a spring 87 secured at one end to the body of the typewriter but bias of the latch link in the direction of arrow 83 by the spring 87 is limited due to the engagement between a clutch trigger 89 rockably mounted on a pivot 88 on the link 86 and a trigger keeper 90. A bail 91 is provided which is designed to slidably bear against the clutch trigger 89 and to be urged against the clutch trigger 89, i.e. in the direction of arrow 94 by an unshown means. When the bail 91 is urged against the clutch trigger 89, the engagement between the trigger keeper 90 and the clutch trigger 89 may be released to permit the latch link 86 to be moved in the direction of arrow 83 by the biasing force of the spring 87. Note that the clutch trigger 89 is normally biased for clockwise rotation by a spring 92 secured at one end to the latch link 86 but the tendency toward such rotation of the clutch trigger resulting from the spring force is limited by the bail 91.

The latch link 86 has a lever 97 pivotally supported on an arm 99 having one end pivotally supported on the link 86 by means of a pivot 96 and the other end secured to the body of the typewriter as at a pivot 98. The

' lever 97 has a latch 95 formed therein intermediately of the said two pivots 96 and 98 and releasably engageable with the first latch 93p or the second latch 93q of the latch wheel 84, the latch 95 being designed to limit the rotation of the latch wheel 84 during its engagement with said first or second latch of the latch wheel. The lever 97 further has a restore arm 100 extending therefrom at the pivot 98 and capable of bearing against and following the restore cam 85. The restore arm 100 is designed to bear against and follow the restore cam 85 which rotates in cooperation with the cycle shaft 76 when the engagement of the latch 95 with the latch 93p or 93q of the latch wheel 84 is released, whereby after the latch wheel 84 has made a predetermined amount of rotation (herein 180), the lever 97 cooperable with the restore arm 100 may be rotated counter-clockwise to return the latch link 86 to its initial position in order to bring the latch 95 again into engagement with the latch 93p or 9311.

Describing the operation, the bail 91 during its normal conditions assumes a regular position and accordingly the clutch trigger 89 is in engagement with the trigger keeper 90, so that the latch 95 engages the latch 93p of the latch wheel 84 to limit the rotation of the latch wheel 84 and of the cycle shaft 76. When an operation occurs to effect one-character printing, the bail 91 is urged toward the latch link 86 or in the direction of arrow 94 by unshown means, so that the clutch trigger 89 pivots counter-clockwise against the bias of the spring 92 to thereby release the engagement with the trigger keeper 90. As a result, the latch link 86 is moved in the direction of arrow 83 by the biasing force of the spring 87 to cause the lever 97 to rotate clockwise about the pivot 98, thus releasing the latch 95 from the engagement with the latch 93p of the latch wheel 84. This disengagement of the latch 95 from the latch 93p of the latch wheel 84 liberates the cycle shaft 76 from its arrested condition into rotation. This rotation also causes rotation of the restore cam 85 which in turn is beared against and followed by the restore arm 100, so that the 97 cooperable with the restore arm 100 is rotated counter-clockwise about the pivot 98 to return the latch again into its engaging position while also returning the latch link 86 to its reference position. When the latch link 86 has been returned to its reference position, the clutch trigger 89 being biased by the spring 92 is clockwise rotated back into engagement with the trigger stop 90. At the same time, when the cycle shaft 76 has made 180 rotation, the latch 95 has already been returned to its engaging position and thus, it now engages the latch 93q of the latch wheel 84 to thereby limit the rotation of the cycle shaft 76. Through the above-described process, the cycle shaft 76 makes 180 rotation and the elliptically shaped cam 77 cooperable with the cycle shaft 76 also makes 180 rotation at the same time.

The bail 91 is provided so that it is urged upon each depression of a typewriter key 4 for one-character printing and thereby causes the above-described clutch mechanism to rotate the cycle shaft 76 through 180. At the same time, depression of a key 4 effects selection of a rod (e.g. 75a) cooperable with the latch levers 40a-40e so that the bail 51 and the latch (e.g., 41a) of a selected latch lever (e.g., 40a) are brought out of engagement. As a result, the elliptically shaped cam 77 makes 180 rotation and when the bail arm 73 rotates clockwise following the rotating cam 77, only the latches which were not selected for disengagement by the bail 51 are pulled in the direction of arrow 57 in FIG. 8, whereby the printing element is rotated and tilted in a predetermined amount, respectively, through the agency of the whiffletree character selection mechansim shown in FIG. 4, thus printing a desired character.

The character selecting operation in the standard office electric typewriter as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,002 has hitherto been described. The present invention provides, in the electric typewirter of the described construction, a printing control device which can be added to such typewriter as a unit of very simple construction without the typewriter being disassembled and reassembled but only through some slight treatment imparted thereto and which is designed to accomplish the character selecting operation of the typewriter by the use of electrical signals.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of the control mechanism for character selection according to an embodiment of the present invention and the clutch mechanism associated therewith. This figure particularly shows the portions corresponding to the latch lever 40a and the interposer 50a.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view of the printing control mechanism shown in FIG. 10 with the clutch mechanism removed.

In FIGS. 10 and 11, electromagnetic solenoids l20a-l20g are arranged in parallel relationship and designed to attract armatures l21a-12lg, respectively, when they are energized. The armatures 12la-l2lg are normally biased at one end into their unattracted posi tions by springs l22a-l22g, respectively. Those of the electromagnetic solenoids which are designated by a-l20fare for the character selection and the other one designated by 120g is for operating the clutch mechanism. Further, the armatures 12lal2lf have windows: l23a-l23f formed in the other end portions thereof, respectively. These windows l23a123f are engaged by pawls l26a-126f formed at the ends of L- shaped arms a-125f pivotally supported on a fixed stud I24, and the engagement between the armatures i The L-shaped arm a spring 148 and has a hook member 149 at the other 9 l2la-12lf and the pawls l26a-126f may be released by selectively energizing the electromagnetic solenoids 120al20f.

The printing control mechanism corresponding to the interposer 50a will now be describedwith reference to FIG. 10.

The L-shaped arm 125a is normally biased in the direction of arrow 128 by a spring 1270 and its tendency toward counter-clockwise rotation resulting from such biasing force is limited due to the engagement between the window 123a and the pawl 126a. Further, the other end 128a of the L-shaped arm 125a bears against the corresponding end 130a of the interposer 50a and the electromagnetic solenoid 120a, when energized, attracts the armature 121a to release the engagement between the window 123a and the pawl 126a and permit the L-shaped arm 125a to be rotated counter-clockwise by the biasing force, of the spring 127a, so that the end 128a of the L-shaped arm 125a urges the end 130a of the interposer 50a in the direction of arrow 79. As a result, the interposer 50a moves the rod 75a and accordingly the latch lever 40a in the direction of arrow 79 to thereby release the latch 41a from the engagement with the bail 51.

A restore arm 131 is pivotally supported on a fixed pivot 232 and normally biased counter-clockwise (in the direction of arrow 128) by a spring 133. The restore arm 131 has a roller 132 mounted on one end thereof so as to bear against the bail arm 73, and also has an intermediate arm 134 whose end carries a restore bar 135 extending so as to correspond to all of the pawls 126a-126e. When rotated, the elliptically shaped cam 77 may urge the roller 132 through the agency of the roller 74 to rotate the restore arm 131 counterclockwise against the force of the spring 133. This will cause the restore bar 135 to be moved in the direction one of the pawls 126a'l26f which is then disengaged from a corresponding one of the windows l23a-123f ported on a pivot pin 141. The electromagnetic solenoid 120g is for releasing the clutch and designed to attract the armature 1213 when it is energized. This parti'cular solenoid is energized to urge the bar 140 into the direction of arrow 143 each time one-character printing occurs, and such urge force is transmitted through a lever 144 and a rod 145 to one end of an I..- shaped arm 147 pivotally supported on a pivot pin 146.

I 147 is normally biased clockwise by end. By. theurge force transmitted thereto, the L- shiaped arm 147 is rotated counter-clockwise to move its hook member l49 in the direction of arrow 94, which in lieu of the bail 91 urges the clutch trigger 89 in the direction of arrow 94 to thereby operate the clutch mechanism.

With the consiruction as described above, there is provided a printing control device wherein the clutch mechanism ,and the whiffletree character selection H tively energizing any desired dne of the electromag- 10 netic solenoids l2la-l2lf. Further, the operation of the clutch mechanism is made more reliable because the bar for operating the clutch mechanism can be energized not only by the electromagnetic solenoid 121g but also by a selectively energized one of the electromagnetic solenoids 121a -124f.

Also, in the printing control device of the present invention, the operation of the interposers 50a50f does not depend directly on the energization of the electro magnetic solenoids but on the biasing force of the springs l27a-124f and the electromagnetic solenoids are used as a trigger for applying such biasing force, and thus, a great magnitude of attraction need not be selected for each electromagnetic solenoid, which in turn leads to availability of a smaller size for these solenoids. This also permits the solenoid energizing means to be of smaller output. Furthermore, the construction according to the present invention may be added to a standard office electric typewriter without the procedures such as disassemblage and reassemblage of the typewriter and thereby enables the typewriter to be driven by electrical signals.

I claim:

1. A printing control device comprising:

a printing element having a plurality of characters on the outer periphery thereof and operable to selectively present any desired character at a printing position; plurality of latch lever means for controlling displacement of said printing element to select one of the characters on said printing element, said latch lever means being connected to said printing element through at least one transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each taking a first position which is normal and a second position which is selectively taken, thereby to control the displacement of said printing element in accordance with a combination of the positions of said latch lever means and through the transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each having a latch at one end thereof;

bail means engageable with the latches of said latch lever means to shift, to the second position, said latch lever means engaged with said bail means through the latch thereof;

a plurality of interposer means provided for said latch lever means, respectively, to selectively release the engagement between said latch lever means and said bail means; said interposer means taking an inoperative position which is normal and an operative position for releasing the engagement between said bail means and the latch lever means corresponding to saidinterposer means at the operative position; i

a plurality of lever means provided for said interposer means, respectively, said lever means being urged by at least one urging means to urge said interposer means to the operative positions thereof, and said lever means each having a pawl member;

engaging means engageable with the pawl members of said lever means, said engaging means restraining, at the normal conditions thereof, the urging of said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said engaging means, when operating to selectively release the engagement between the engaging means and the pawl members, causing the corresponding lever means to urge said interposer means to the operative position thereof;

a plurality of actuating means for causing said engaging means to be selectively released from engagement with said pawls; and

at least one resetting bar means for resetting said lever means, released from said engaging means, to engage said lever means with said engaging means against the urging means, said bar means being provided for said lever means and being cooperable with said bail means.

2. a device according to claim 1, further comprising:

cam means for reciprocating said bail means and said resetting bar means through a predetermined stroke;

means for driving said cam means;

a movable member which is actuated by another actuating means; and

a clutch trigger mechanism for permitting said driving means to move said cam means through a predetermined amount, said clutch trigger mechanism being actuated by at least one of said engaging means and said movable member.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein said urging means comprises a spring; and said actuating means and actuating means for said movable means comprises electromagnetic solenoids.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein said urging means is provided for each of said lever means.

5. A device according to claim 3, wherein all of said solenoids are disposed in a line.

6. A device according to claim 5, wherein said resetting bar means comprises a single bar extending to correspond to all of said lever means.

7. A printing control device comprising:

a printing element having a plurality of characters on the outer periphery thereof and operable to selectively present any desired character at a printing position;

a plurality of latch lever means for controlling displacement of said printing element to select one of the characters on said printing element, said latch lever means being connected to said printing element through at least one transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each taking a first position which is normal and a second position which is selectively taken, thereby to control the displacement of said printing element in accordance with a combination of the positions of said latch lever means and through the transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each having a latch at one end thereof;

bail means engageable with the latches of said latch lever means to shift, to the second position, said latch lever means engaged with said bail means through the latch thereof;

a plurality of interposer means provided for said latch lever means, respectively, to selectively release the engagement between said latch lever means and said bail means, said interposer means taking an inoperative position which is normal and an operative position for releasing the engagement between said bail means and the latch lever means corresponding to said interposer means at the operative position;

a plurality of lever means provided for said interposer means, respectively. said lever means being urged by spring means to urge said interposer means to the operative positions thereof, and said lever means each having a pawl member:

engaging means engageable with the pawl members of said lever means, said engaging means restraining, at the normal conditions thereof, the urging of said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said engaging means, when selectively being caused to be operative, releasing the engagement between the engaging means and the pawl members, causing the corresponding lever means to urge said interposer means through said spring means to the operative position thereof;

a plurality of electromagnetic solenoids for causing said engaging means to be selectively released from engagement with said pawls;

resetting bar means for resetting said lever means, re-

leased from said engaging means, to engage said lever means with said engaging means against the urging means, said bar means being provided for said lever means and being cooperable with said bail means;

cam means for reciprocating said bail means and said resetting bar means through a predetermined stroke;

means for driving said cam means through clutch means;

a movable member which is actuated by another actuating means; and

a clutch trigger mechanism for establishing engagement by said clutch means between said cam means and said driving means to permit said driving means to move said cam means through a predetermined amount, said clutch trigger mechanism being actuated by at least one of said engaging means and said movable member.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein said electromagnetic solenoids for driving said engaging means are disposed in a line.

9. A device according to claim 8, wherein said electromagnetic solenoids for driving said movable member are juxtaposed with said electromagnetic solenoid for driving said engaging means.

10. a printing control device comprising:

a ball-like printing element having a plurality of characters on the outer periphery thereof, and operable to selectively present any desired character at a printing position in accordance with rotation and tilting thereof; plurality of latch lever means for controlling the amount of rotation and tilting of said printing element to select one of the characters on said printing element, said latch lever means being connected to said printing element through at least one transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each taking a first position which is normal and a second position which is selectively taken, thereby to control the amount of rotation and tilting of said printing element in accordance with a combination of the positions of said latch lever means and through the transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each having a latch at one end thereof; bail means engageable with the latches of said latch lever means to shift to the second postion said bail means through the latch thereof, said bail means being mounted on at least one lever reciprocable through an oval cam;

a plurality of interposer means provided for said latch lever means, respectively, to selectively release the engagement between said latch lever means and 13 said bail means; said interposer means taking an inoperative position which is normal and an operative position for releasing the engagement between said bail means and the latch lever means corre sponding to said interposer means at the operative position;

a plurality of lever means provided for said interposer means, respectively, said lever means being urged by a spring to urge said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said lever means each having a pawl member;

engaging means engageable with the pawl members of said lever means, said engaging means restraining, at the normal conditions thereof; the urging of said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said engaging means, when selectively placed at an operative position thereof, being released from said pawl member and causing the corresponding lever means to urge said interposer means to the operative position thereof;

a plurality of electromagnetic solenoids for causing said engaging means to be selectively released from engagement with said pawls, said soneloinds being disposed in a line;

resetting bar means for resetting said lever means, re-

leased from said engaging means, to engage said 14 lever means with said engaging means against the urging means, said bar means being provided for said lever means and being reciprocable together with said bail means in accordance with said oval cam;

driving means for urging said oval cam to rotate in a predetermined direction;

clutch means having a member for restraining the rotation of said oval cam and a member for releasing said oval cam from the restraining action by said restraining member to permit the oval cam to rotate a predetermined amount;

a movable member which is actuated by another electromagnetic solenoid;

a clutch trigger mechanism for rotating said oval cam by actuating the releasing member of said clutch means, said clutch trigger mechanism being actuated by at least one of said engaging means and sand movable member; and

restore means for actuating said restraining means, said restore means detecting the rotation of said oval cam through a predetermined amount after the oval cam has been released from said restraining means, and said restore means, after the detection, actuating said restraining means.

Page I of 2 UNlIED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CGRRECTION Patent 1991,7512 Dated November 25' 1975 Inventor-(s) TOSHIAKI KUNISHIMA Q It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 40, "te cost" should read the cost;

Q Column 5, line 13, "0 to 5 units" should read from 0 to 5 units-;

Column 5, line 14, "and the further" should read and further-;

Column 6, line 31, "howevver" should read however--;

Column 6, line 48, "40b-75e, respectively." should read 40b-75e are likewise connected to their associated rods 75b-75e, respectively.;

Column 6, line 51, "of the amount of tilt" should read Q and the amount of tilt-;

Column 7, line 69, "that the 97" should read that the lever 97-;

Column 8, lines 31 and 32, "mechansim" should read Q -mechanism--;

Page 2 of 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIGN 3,921,782 November 25, 1975 Patent No. Dated Inventor (3) TOSHIAKI KUNISHIMA It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 8, line 37, "typewirter" should read -'typewriter-;

Column 10, line 11, "l27a-l24f" should read l27a-l27f-;

Column 12, line 62, "postion" should read position;

Column 13, line 24, "soneloinds" should read -solenoids;

Column 14, line 19, "sand" should read said;

Evigncd and Scaled this twentieth Day of April 1976 [SEAL] Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHAL]- DANN Arresting ()jfirer (mnmissiuncr uj'larenrs and Trademarks 

1. A printing control device comprising: a printing element having a plurality of characters on the outer periphery thereof and operable to selectively present any desired character at a printing position; a plurality of latch lever means for controlling displacement of said printing element to select One of the characters on said printing element, said latch lever means being connected to said printing element through at least one transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each taking a first position which is normal and a second position which is selectively taken, thereby to control the displacement of said printing element in accordance with a combination of the positions of said latch lever means and through the transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each having a latch at one end thereof; bail means engageable with the latches of said latch lever means to shift, to the second position, said latch lever means engaged with said bail means through the latch thereof; a plurality of interposer means provided for said latch lever means, respectively, to selectively release the engagement between said latch lever means and said bail means; said interposer means taking an inoperative position which is normal and an operative position for releasing the engagement between said bail means and the latch lever means corresponding to said interposer means at the operative position; a plurality of lever means provided for said interposer means, respectively, said lever means being urged by at least one urging means to urge said interposer means to the operative positions thereof, and said lever means each having a pawl member; engaging means engageable with the pawl members of said lever means, said engaging means restraining, at the normal conditions thereof, the urging of said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said engaging means, when operating to selectively release the engagement between the engaging means and the pawl members, causing the corresponding lever means to urge said interposer means to the operative position thereof; a plurality of actuating means for causing said engaging means to be selectively released from engagement with said pawls; and at least one resetting bar means for resetting said lever means, released from said engaging means, to engage said lever means with said engaging means against the urging means, said bar means being provided for said lever means and being cooperable with said bail means.
 2. a device according to claim 1, further comprising: cam means for reciprocating said bail means and said resetting bar means through a predetermined stroke; means for driving said cam means; a movable member which is actuated by another actuating means; and a clutch trigger mechanism for permitting said driving means to move said cam means through a predetermined amount, said clutch trigger mechanism being actuated by at least one of said engaging means and said movable member.
 3. A device according to claim 2, wherein said urging means comprises a spring; and said actuating means and actuating means for said movable means comprises electromagnetic solenoids.
 4. A device according to claim 3, wherein said urging means is provided for each of said lever means.
 5. A device according to claim 3, wherein all of said solenoids are disposed in a line.
 6. A device according to claim 5, wherein said resetting bar means comprises a single bar extending to correspond to all of said lever means.
 7. A printing control device comprising: a printing element having a plurality of characters on the outer periphery thereof and operable to selectively present any desired character at a printing position; a plurality of latch lever means for controlling displacement of said printing element to select one of the characters on said printing element, said latch lever means being connected to said printing element through at least one transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each taking a first position which is normal and a second position which is selectively taken, thereby to control the displacement of said printing element in accordance with a combination of the positions of said latch lever means and through the transmission mechanism, and saId latch lever means each having a latch at one end thereof; bail means engageable with the latches of said latch lever means to shift, to the second position, said latch lever means engaged with said bail means through the latch thereof; a plurality of interposer means provided for said latch lever means, respectively, to selectively release the engagement between said latch lever means and said bail means, said interposer means taking an inoperative position which is normal and an operative position for releasing the engagement between said bail means and the latch lever means corresponding to said interposer means at the operative position; a plurality of lever means provided for said interposer means, respectively, said lever means being urged by spring means to urge said interposer means to the operative positions thereof, and said lever means each having a pawl member; engaging means engageable with the pawl members of said lever means, said engaging means restraining, at the normal conditions thereof, the urging of said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said engaging means, when selectively being caused to be operative, releasing the engagement between the engaging means and the pawl members, causing the corresponding lever means to urge said interposer means through said spring means to the operative position thereof; a plurality of electromagnetic solenoids for causing said engaging means to be selectively released from engagement with said pawls; resetting bar means for resetting said lever means, released from said engaging means, to engage said lever means with said engaging means against the urging means, said bar means being provided for said lever means and being cooperable with said bail means; cam means for reciprocating said bail means and said resetting bar means through a predetermined stroke; means for driving said cam means through clutch means; a movable member which is actuated by another actuating means; and a clutch trigger mechanism for establishing engagement by said clutch means between said cam means and said driving means to permit said driving means to move said cam means through a predetermined amount, said clutch trigger mechanism being actuated by at least one of said engaging means and said movable member.
 8. A device according to claim 7, wherein said electromagnetic solenoids for driving said engaging means are disposed in a line.
 9. A device according to claim 8, wherein said electromagnetic solenoids for driving said movable member are juxtaposed with said electromagnetic solenoid for driving said engaging means.
 10. a printing control device comprising: a ball-like printing element having a plurality of characters on the outer periphery thereof, and operable to selectively present any desired character at a printing position in accordance with rotation and tilting thereof; a plurality of latch lever means for controlling the amount of rotation and tilting of said printing element to select one of the characters on said printing element, said latch lever means being connected to said printing element through at least one transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each taking a first position which is normal and a second position which is selectively taken, thereby to control the amount of rotation and tilting of said printing element in accordance with a combination of the positions of said latch lever means and through the transmission mechanism, and said latch lever means each having a latch at one end thereof; bail means engageable with the latches of said latch lever means to shift to the second postion said bail means through the latch thereof, said bail means being mounted on at least one lever reciprocable through an oval cam; a plurality of interposer means provided for said latch lever means, respectively, to selectively release the engagement between said latch lever means and said bail means; said interposEr means taking an inoperative position which is normal and an operative position for releasing the engagement between said bail means and the latch lever means corresponding to said interposer means at the operative position; a plurality of lever means provided for said interposer means, respectively, said lever means being urged by a spring to urge said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said lever means each having a pawl member; engaging means engageable with the pawl members of said lever means, said engaging means restraining, at the normal conditions thereof; the urging of said interposer means to the operative position thereof, and said engaging means, when selectively placed at an operative position thereof, being released from said pawl member and causing the corresponding lever means to urge said interposer means to the operative position thereof; a plurality of electromagnetic solenoids for causing said engaging means to be selectively released from engagement with said pawls, said soneloinds being disposed in a line; resetting bar means for resetting said lever means, released from said engaging means, to engage said lever means with said engaging means against the urging means, said bar means being provided for said lever means and being reciprocable together with said bail means in accordance with said oval cam; driving means for urging said oval cam to rotate in a predetermined direction; clutch means having a member for restraining the rotation of said oval cam and a member for releasing said oval cam from the restraining action by said restraining member to permit the oval cam to rotate a predetermined amount; a movable member which is actuated by another electromagnetic solenoid; a clutch trigger mechanism for rotating said oval cam by actuating the releasing member of said clutch means, said clutch trigger mechanism being actuated by at least one of said engaging means and sand movable member; and restore means for actuating said restraining means, said restore means detecting the rotation of said oval cam through a predetermined amount after the oval cam has been released from said restraining means, and said restore means, after the detection, actuating said restraining means. 